Row crops in Grenada, including mostly soybeans and cotton, are recovering from the heavy rains that fell early in the month, according to an agricultural expert.
Steve Winters with the Mississippi State Extension Service, said that plant roots follow the moisture, and when most of it is on the surface, as happens in torrential rains, the roots begin to retreat toward the surface.
Grenada County farmers have some 7,000 acres of soybeans in the ground now, along with about 6,500 acres of cotton.
“Some of our fields actually went underwater during the heaviest flooding,” said Winters.
“When the we get saturated, as we’ve been, the lower roots that have grown die off,” said Winters. “If we get into a dry spell, later in the summer, we’ll just have to see how we do.”
“Right now most farmers’ main priorities are getting out herbicides and getting out the last of the fertilizer, which should have been done two weeks ago, but it’s been too wet,” said Winters. “The weeds are getting bigger and tougher to kill.”
Farmers are also cutting winter wheat this week, Winters said.

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